Cole out for 3 Months

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England defender Ashley Cole faces a race against time to be fit for Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.

The Chelsea left-back, 29, is out for around three months and faces a possible operation after breaking an ankle in Wednesday's defeat by Everton.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said he "did not know" if Cole would recover in time to play in South Africa.

The injury raises the prospect of Manchester City's Wayne Bridge playing alongside John Terry for England.

Bridge, a direct replacement for first-choice left-back Cole, was portrayed as the innocent party in the tabloid scandal that led to Terry being sacked as England captain by Capello last week.

Terry is alleged to have had an affair with Bridge's ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel, and Bridge has not yet indicated whether he is prepared to play alongside his former Chelsea team-mate for England.

But if Cole cannot rehabilitate his damaged ankle in time, there is a good chance Capello would want Bridge to start in England's first World Cup match against the United States on 12 June.

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England defender Ashley Cole faces a race against time to be fit for Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.

The Chelsea left-back, 29, will be out for around three months after breaking an ankle on Wednesday in the Premier League defeat by Everton.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said he "did not know" if Cole would recover in time to play in South Africa.

The injury raises the prospect of Manchester City's Wayne Bridge playing alongside John Terry for England.

Bridge, a direct replacement for first-choice left-back Cole, was portrayed as the innocent party in the tabloid scandal that led to Terry being sacked as England captain by Capello last week.

Terry is alleged to have had an affair with Bridge's ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel, and Bridge has not yet indicated whether he is prepared to play alongside his former Chelsea team-mate for England.

But if Cole cannot rehabilitate his damaged ankle in time, there is a good chance Capello would want Bridge to start in England's first World Cup match against the United States on 12 June.

The Italian picks an initial 30-man squad for South Africa on 12 May, but the crucial date for Cole is 1 June, when the final squad of 23 is named.

Capello said: "It's bad news for me because he is an important player. Ashley is very good when we defend and good going forward. He is really dangerous and I hope this problem will be not so bad."

In terms of his projected club return, Chelsea are already preparing for the worst, with severe doubts as to whether he will feature in any games before the last round of Premier League matches on 9 May.

The FA Cup final, which Chelsea remain hot favourites to win, is on 15 May with the Champions League final on 22 May. England then play friendlies against Mexico on 24 June, and Japan five days later.

Everton's Landon Donovan, a certainty for the US World Cup squad, made the second-half tackle on Cole on Wednesday which forced the England man to limp off the field.

And a scan on Thursday revealed the full extent of his injury, with Chelsea revealing in a statement that they expected Cole would be out for "approximately three months".

Chelsea have plenty of cover in their squad. Russia international Yury Zhirkov is comfortable at left-back and Portugal international Paulo Ferreira can also play in the same position despite being signed by former boss Jose Mourinho as a right-back.

Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti said: "We are very disappointed because [Cole] is a very important player for us.

"Now we have to do our best to get him recovered quickly, although we have Yury, who is a fantastic full-back, so we can use him."

Chelsea's defeat at Everton has left them only one point clear of Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Terry was at fault for both of Everton's goals at Goodison Park and the club have since given him permission to fly out to Dubai in a bid to patch up his marriage to wife Toni.

He left Heathrow on Thursday and will miss Saturday's FA Cup fifth round tie with Cardiff at Stamford Bridge.

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Didn't think it was that bad

Unless he makes an excellent recovery he wont be fit untill june..and england cant be taking another injured player to the WC

in all honesty though, I can't see him..not recovering in a way. its the wc...